Editing Cairo (section)

===Ancient settlements===
[[File:Cairo - Coptic area - Roman Tower.JPG|thumb|Remains of a circular Roman tower at [[Babylon Fortress]] (late 3rd century) in [[Old Cairo]]|left]]

The area around present-day Cairo had long been a focal point of [[Ancient Egypt]] due to its strategic location at the junction of the [[Nile|Nile Valley]] and the [[Nile Delta]] regions (roughly [[Upper Egypt]] and [[Lower Egypt]]), which also placed it at the crossing of major routes between [[North Africa]] and the [[Levant]].{{sfn|Gabra|van Loon|Reif|Swelim|2013|p=18}}<ref name="Bloom-2009">{{Cite book|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan M.|chapter=Cairo|editor-last2=Blair|editor-first2=Sheila S.}}</ref> [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], the capital of Egypt during the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] and a major city up until the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic period]], was located a short distance south west of present-day Cairo.<ref name="Snape-2014">{{Cite book|last=Snape|first=Steven |title=The Complete Cities of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson|year=2014|isbn=9780500051795|pages=170–177}}</ref> [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]], another important city and major religious center, was located in what are now the modern districts of [[El Matareya, Cairo|Matariya]] and [[Ain Shams]] in northeastern Cairo.<ref name="Snape-2014"/><ref>{{cite web |date=2005-06-01 |title=Al-Ahram Weekly &#124; Features &#124; City of the sun |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/744/fe1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325171032/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/744/fe1.htm |archive-date=2013-03-25 |access-date=2013-03-26 |publisher=Weekly.ahram.org.eg}}</ref> It was largely destroyed by the [[First Achaemenid conquest of Egypt|Persian invasions]] in 525 BC and 343 BC and partly abandoned by the late first century BC.{{sfn|Gabra|van Loon|Reif|Swelim|2013|p=18}}

However, the origins of modern Cairo are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium AD. Around the turn of the fourth century,{{sfn|Hawass|Brock|2003|p=456}} as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2009 |title=Memphis (Egypt) |encyclopedia=Encarta |publisher=Microsoft |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573551/memphis_(egypt).html |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006040551/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573551/memphis_(egypt).html |archive-date=6 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] established a large fortress along the east bank of the [[Nile]]. The fortress, called [[Babylon Fortress|Babylon]], was built by the Roman emperor [[Diocletian]] (r. 285–305) at the entrance of a canal connecting the Nile to the [[Red Sea]] that was created earlier by Emperor [[Trajan]] (r. 98–117).{{Efn|The historical chronicler [[John of Nikiou]] attributed the construction of the fortress to Trajan, but more recent excavations date the fortress to the time of Diocletian. A succession of canals connecting the Nile Valley with the Red Sea were also previously dug around this region in different periods prior to Trajan. Trajan's canal fell out of use some time between the reign of Diocletian and the 7th century.}}{{sfn|Gabra|van Loon|Reif|Swelim|2013|pp=20–22}} Further north of the fortress, near the present-day district of [[Azbakeya|al-Azbakiya]], was a [[port]] and fortified outpost known as Tendunyas ({{Langx|cop|ϯⲁⲛⲧⲱⲛⲓⲁⲥ}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Amelineau |first=Emile |title=La Géographie de l'Egypte À l'Époque Copte |year=1980 |location=Paris |pages=491}}</ref> or Umm Dunayn.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanley|first=Bruce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=history+of+cairo+encyclopedia|title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2007 |isbn=978-1-57607-919-5|editor-last=Dumper|editor-first=Michael R.T.|pages=107–114|language=en|chapter=Cairo|editor-last2=Stanley|editor-first2=Bruce}}</ref>{{Sfn|Abu-Lughod|1971|p=6}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Meinardus |first=Otto F. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFXbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT169|title=Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity|publisher=American University in Cairo Press|year=2002|isbn=978-1-61797-263-8}}</ref> While no structures older than the 7th century have been preserved in the area aside from the Roman fortifications, historical evidence suggests that a sizeable city existed. The city was important enough that its [[bishop]], Cyrus, participated in the [[Second Council of Ephesus]] in 449.{{sfn|Gabra|van Loon|Reif|Swelim|2013|p=33}}

The [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|Byzantine-Sassanian War]] between 602 and 628 caused great hardship and likely caused much of the urban population to leave for the countryside, leaving the settlement partly deserted.{{Sfn|Abu-Lughod|1971|p=6}} The site today remains at the nucleus of the [[Coptic Orthodox]] community, which separated from the Roman and Byzantine churches in the late 4th century. Cairo's oldest extant churches, such as the [[Saint Barbara Church in Coptic Cairo|Church of Saint Barbara]] and the [[Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga)|Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus]] (from the late 7th or early 8th century), are located inside the fortress walls in what is now known as [[Old Cairo]] or [[Coptic Cairo]].{{sfn|Gabra|van Loon|Reif|Swelim|2013|p=75}}